Product Reviews

Great Potential

Comments: I have used the product for a year now. I am pastor of a small church and this software works well at what it does. I particularly like the interface with Vanco and mailchimp.

There are some critical pieces missing, in my opinion, though I may be the only one who values these: 2nd line address field, nickname field, and alternate address fields. How you manage a church without these fields, I don't know. Additionally, membership status changes only have one address field so it isn't possible to record when someone became a member AND when their status changed.

If these components were given attention, I would be very happy. But apparently they are not due to be updated anytime soon so I am shopping for new software.

Nic Showalter
, Pastor at Maroa UMC

January 15, 2014

Excellent

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Comments: Great customer support. Easy to use. It doesn't take hundreds of dollars and hours of training to be up and running. It is highly customizable. You can create a database which gives you exactly the information you want. Reports take just seconds to create. Overall it is a great value and costs much less than other church management software.

N Wall
, Administrator at Next Level Church

December 22, 2013

Simply Awesome!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Comments: How does one describe that Goldilocks experience? Just right. That's CMO in a nutshell. Moreover, the import your old data option was a monumental blessing, and worth every penny. We are a small church with no full-time staff or pastors ... everyone is part-time. This software is perfect for our needs and appears to flexible for any sized church's needs. Too many features to mention in a single review...one would need to blog about that. Perfect! Simply perfect.

Pastor

Mzwandile Buthelezi
, MR at Light of the world evangelistic ministries

December 04, 2012

Customer support rules!

4
/
5

Overall

3
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: I am so happy with Customer Support. I put a phone call out and get a response in a timely manner. They meet me at my level. They are right there when I need help. They spend the time to be on the phone giving me a step-by-step walk through. They are respectful.
They allow me the time and courtesy to try out for myself what I need to accomplish while they are on the phone. I come away feeling confident that I can do the task ahead. Five shining stars!
I did have an email response with how to do a task that was most helpful and clear. I could follow th instructions well

Cons: I did not always find email so timely. I did not get a within 24 hour response.

Overall: The more I learn about this program the more I like it. What I know I highly recommend.

Sherry Monroe
, Administrative Assistent at Riverside Assembly of God

December 01, 2012

Great Stuff!

4.5
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Has everything you need and more! Has made accounting and other office duties a snap!

Cons: Sometimes can be a little slow but nothing to bad....

Overall: I highly recommend this all the time...

Abel Campos
, Pastor at The River Church

November 29, 2012

Sweet Program

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: I like operating off of the cloud, being able to have immediate access to church information.Two other pros are the simplicity of use and the designers ability to listen to the needs of their customers and adapt.

Cons: Have not come across one yet

Overall: This is a powerhouse of a program. I highly recommend it to any church that is looking for a way to manage all of their churches information.

Cade Bichel
, Pastor at Fortine Community Church

November 29, 2012

It was exactly what I was looking for!!!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: As a minister, there are a hundred things that I have to track; there are details I need to remember about people and about circumstances. Church office online meets that need!
I can use it any where I have my computer, tablet or smart phone. Details come at all times of the day. It is nice to be able to look up information and add information no matter where I am at.
Also, our leadership, staff, and church secretary can add updates on details of events and peoples that I can view. Instead of having to track people down for these details, they are on the site.

Cons: I have nothing negative to say about church office online.

Overall: I would highly recommend this site. It will help you organize details and events. It will also aid you in tracking families.

Chris Shrum
, Minister at Hebron Christian Church

November 29, 2012

Church Office Online, easy to use and immediate help by phone!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: It was easy to transfer our records to Church Office Online. We can customize our member's records for specific information. This program has so many different reports such as membership categories and contributions.

Cons: Haven't found any yet.

Overall: Yes, we would recommend Church Membership Online to anyone who ask what we were using.

Nancy Stach
, Office Manager at Second Chance Church

November 29, 2012

Bridgepoint Review

4
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Ease of entering names
Calendar features for dates

Cons: Head of household should be only feature-then add on the members
Reports don't include all of members
Too many choices in type of members

Overall: Very satisfied and will continue to use.

Tom Ledbetter
, Pastor at Bridgepoint Fellowship Church

November 29, 2012

Awesome Program

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: All I need is my laptop to have my office at my fingertips. The membership clerk and I can both work at the same time, from different locations (or the same). Love it.

Cons: My church does not (yet) have a web site, therefore we can not take advantage of the email feature.

Overall: The software is great. It has great reporting features and I have recommended it to others.

Far superior to old school computer-based programs

Pros: web based program - access from anywhere
congregant access
giving tracking
end of year statements
mass email

Cons: having to learn and teach a new program to users (a necessary evil in the world of progress!)

Overall: two thumbs up!

Denise Moore
, church secretary at Whipple Heights C&MA Church

November 29, 2012

My view

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: It is a good system for tracking church information.

Cons: It would be better if it tracked church accounting and member information, more like, all in one.

Overall: Pleased with the product

Lady Miya Lee
, Pastor at God's Harvest Church

November 29, 2012

Great,

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: So easy to use and manage, great reports, great admin and pastor options

Cons: How do I create a business as a tithe giver?

Overall: I would definitely recommend!!

Kelly Mckennon
, Bookkeeper at The shelter

November 28, 2012

Simple to use; good for a small church

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: This product is excellent for a small church that really only has volunteer labor, b/c the online format means people can look at information on as many different computers as necessary. Very easy to use, very intuitive.

Cons: For a larger church, some of the financial info might not be powerful enough

Overall: Excellent, especially for a small church that needs something easy and flexible. The customer support is A++++++; anytime I have had a question or problem I have gotten personalized support very quickly.

Dorothy Collins
, Office Manager at Fellowship of the Inner Light

November 28, 2012

Chock full of great features

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Super easy interface that is chock full of amazing features like financial reporting, attendance tracking, child check-in and member login.

Cons: Would like more customization in some of the fields.

Overall: I would definitely recommend this product to everyone. The value vs cost is unparalleled in church software.

Outstanding Software and Customer Service

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Church Membership Online (CMO) is very intuitive and easy to use for a multitude of church-related tasks. Our church uses CMO for keeping track of church membership, individual contributions, generating year-end contribution reports, keeping a church calendar, generating a membership role, and mass mailing of a weekly newsletter. The ability for church members to correct thier contact information is very useful and allows us to have up-to-date records. Members also appreciate being able to see their individual online contribution records as well as being able to access church member contact information. I must also say that the CMO customer support is outstanding and very responsive to our questions and needs!

Cons: Does not allow for personalization of the contribution reports.

Overall: I would highly recommend Church Membership Online. Before we started using CMO (about three years ago), we had tried several other software apllications for doing these tasks but concluded that CMO offered the most features for the subscription price. We have been very happy with CMO both as a software package as well as with customer service.

Walter Haisler
, Treasurer at Westminster Presbyterian Church

November 28, 2012

Great product with great customer service!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: The transition to Church Office Online has been quite easy and having all of our data in one convenient location has streamlined many of our church office functions. The Cloud based system has also been very handy because it has allowed staff to access necessary information outside of the office on laptops and even on smart phones.

Cons: There is a bit of a learning curve on getting the program to do exactly what we have needed but customer support has been phenomenal. Questions get answered almost immediately and the service has been extremely professional and helpful.

Overall: I would recommend this to any church office looking to move their record keeping online!

Corey Larson
, Pastor at First Congregational United Church of Christ

November 28, 2012

CMO Review

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Customer support is the best. Any questions or issues that I have had have been answered/addressed very quickly.

Entering new Households with individuals is simple.

Cons: Any past issued have been addressed and resolved. No problems.

Overall: I do recommend CMO as a multi-functional data tool for any church.

Cheryl Holdwick
, Bookkeeper at St. Clair Shores Assembly of God

November 28, 2012

Contributions

3.5
/
5

Overall

3
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Easy to use, fast and effective.

Cons: Hard to edit/ fix mistakes. No lock feature on pass enteries. would be nice to be able to lock out a contribution data once all data is entered for that data so that data cannot be changed. Also no quick add for individuals not already in database. User has to exit the contrubution area, add new member/visitor and then re-enter contribution area. A quick app would help save time

Overall: Overall a great service that would be benificial to most churches. I really like the new Mass Txt messaging serrvice.

Carl Ford
, councilman at Bridge Baptist church

November 28, 2012

Excellent Church Administration Tool

4
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: For us it has been an useful tool to know how our church is doing in attracting new visitors and working for assimilation.

Our last planning leadership meeting was easy to present our journey in 2012.

Cons: I had some problems when I register the offerings, there is some amounts that I really don't know where they come from, it s a bit confuse.

We get confuse when we register children and teen, because the school system is different.

Overall: Our Church s based in London England, even do we are using your software, could it be more open for other currencies, at the moment you got just for Canada & USA; I have recommended your software to others Pastors but this issue with currency stop them using it.

Also the classification for school years, the education system is different in other countries, it should be better for us to classify by ages rather that for scholar year..

Cesar Mendoza
, Senior Pastor at ICIMA Generations

November 28, 2012

Church Membership Online

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Great product! I love how it knows the names of people automatically.. love the reports features etc

Cons: No problems

Overall: I recommend this product to all churches and ministries small and big!

John Marques
, Administrator at Community Life Church

November 28, 2012

Absolutely ZERO problems for us

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Ease of use
Affordability for smaller churches

Cons: None so far

Overall: Would HIGHLY recommend

Kevin Alexander
, Sr. Pastor at Faith Tabernacle Assembly of God

November 28, 2012

Great church management resource!

4.5
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Awesome attendance tracking and reporting that is very user-friendly! Very beneficial database system that helps keep our church organized!

Cons: Since it is web-based, we are a little limited in our use of this at the middle school on Sundays, so some more offline-use accessibility would be nice.

Overall: Highly recommend this product for other churches to use - helps us stay organized and focused, without the hassle of tedious recording and reporting.

Derrick Abell
, Associate Pastor at Fellowship of Grace

November 28, 2012

Overall Pleased

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: We have a handle of concerns/critiques that seem to be 'heard' by the developers, if nothing else. I like that. The product does seem to be continually developing, which I like to see.

Cons: Too many 'small' yet annoying issues. We have addressed those, and will continue to do so throughout the support side of the website and/or calls in to tech support.

Overall: It's a good product. Useful and growing.

Sherman Gardner
, Pastor at Christ Community Church

November 28, 2012

A Great Way To Begin

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: User Friendly
Great Customer Support
Always Expanding
Excellent CMS features
Simple Contribution Program
Reasonable Cost
New Attendance Feature Is Great
Child Check In
Members Access Is Wonderful
Love Birthdays & Anniversaries on Main Page
Nice Integrated Church Calendar
On-line Giving

Cons: Could use a few more reports.
Android phone app

Overall: While looking for an online Church Management system we were overwhelmed by the sheer number of companies. We knew we wanted to be able to access the program from anywhere. We wanted it to handle contributions easily and offer an online giving feature. We wanted our membership to be able to update their own records as well as simplify their ability to interact with each other. We knew that in time we wanted a child check-in program.

When I found Church Office Online I was very impressed. It wasn't the most sophisticated program on the market but it offered us an economical way to enter the online CMS market and offered many of the features we were looking for.

The best thing about Church Office Online is that it
has continued to grow with us. Many new features have been added and they listen to their customers. (A very rare commodity in todays business world.) I remain convinced that Church Office Online was the best choice for the Sheffield Church.

James Shaffer
, Rev. at Sheffield Church of God

November 28, 2012

A Great Resource to Churches of All Sizes!!!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: -Easy to understand with great tutorial videos.
-Simple outline of software to implement data.
-Many helpful resources and bonus services you wouldn't expect in in package like this.
-Very cost effective no matter what size your congregation.

Cons: -I do not have any cons at this time. I feel all of our needs being met through this software.

Overall: I would actually recommend this software for any congregation of any sizes. I love the fact that it's an online product and that our data is 100% secure!

Arthur Shadwick
, Senior Pastor at The Gathering Church, Inc.

November 28, 2012

Attendance Sheets

2
/
5

Overall

2
/
5

Ease of Use

3
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: The online nature of the product first drew us to it.

Cons: We needed a place to keep track of attendance in Sunday School classes as well as a total attendance.

The inability to easily place people in a Sunday School class led us to cease use of the product.

Overall: I do not recommend Church Office Online for those who have Sunday School classes and wish to produce Sunday School rosters.

Earl Gillett
, Pastor at First Church of the Nazarene

November 27, 2012

Going to recommend

3.5
/
5

Overall

3
/
5

Ease of Use

3
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Appears easy to use which is great because we are a small church with many not so familiar with computers type people.

Cons: Not enough text messages per month for free.

Overall: I have looked to several church software programs and believe I will recommend the purchase of this one.

Bob Pena
, Council member at Believers In Jesus

November 14, 2012

Organization with ease

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Church office online is easy to use and has simple maintenance features.

Cons: Would be cool if you could use it locally when internet is not accessible.

Overall: Great software for ease of use and ministry organization.

John Gilmore
, Executive Pastor at Faith Baptist Church of Mandarin

November 13, 2012

Great, better than I could imagine

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Online so I can use any computer or device instead of having something loaded on a machine.
Amazing...I mean AMAZING customer service, the most helpful I have seen, even better than Fellowship One (the big dog)
The compatibility with an ipad for check in has been great as well.
Price! The price is amazing, such a better deal than others.
Texting! I am looking forward to this, it is actually the ONLY thing I was looking for that it didn't have, and now it does!

Cons: I have found a single con yet...the only was the lack of text messages, and now we have that!

Overall: I have used several different programs over the years and I am very impressed. We are new church start and this is helping us to start right. We are staying organized from the start and this is helping us to ensure that none slip through the cracks. The way they price based on members is another huge plus for a new church, or a smaller one. I would 100% recommend church office online for anyone!

Tommy Russell
, Lead Pastor at Vintage Church

November 13, 2012

have stayed with it

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: simple to work with and continually on cutting edge

Cons: learning curve on reports is a little difficult

Overall: would recommend to all churches

keith Mariott
, pastor at Branchville church

November 13, 2012

Enjoying CMO

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: We have uploaded our member data and are starting to use CMO for attendance and contribution monitoring. I love that I can take attendance on my phone at the beginning of service and not have to enter it the next day. Contributions are easy to enter. I like that the church family can update their ever changing information! The staff likes the reporting pieces and demographics look. The church family likes having an up-to-date directory at their fingertips.

Cons: For me, only minor tweaking of some things need to be done, but the customer support is great about it!

Overall: I think any church of any size would be pleased with this product.

Karen Bledsoe
, Office Administrator at Christ Community Church

November 13, 2012

Church Office Online User Friendliness

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: 1. Accessible on any computer with internet access
2. Other leaders can be set up to use the system.
3. Password protected
4. Data Export feature to help in customized reporting
5. Welcome and easy to use text messaging feature.

Cons: 1. Data export feature available to only the system administrator.
2. Member category for adding an individual is restrictive.
3. The text messaging feature has a limit of 120 characters, but 160 is stated in video tutorial.
4. There is no counter on the text box.

Overall: 1. Data export feature available to only the system administrator. Other leaders set up to use the system should also have that feature for their custom reports.
2. Member category for adding an individual is restrictive. There should be an option to either add or modify to suit a particular church's mode of describing their membership categories.
3. The text messaging feature has a limit of 120 characters, but 160 is stated in video tutorial. The two should be the same, and I would suggest that they are made 160 to conform with that of standard mobile phones.
4. There is no counter on the text box. I suggest this should be provided as with mobile phones. Otherwise, there is the frustration of typing onto a word pad and checking every now and then to see if the characters allowed have been exceeded or not. This will take the excitement out of using the text messaging feature.

Akwasi Boaten-Sekyerehene
, Presiding Elder at The Church of Pentecost, Community 3 Assembly,Tema

November 13, 2012

Great service!

4
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Easy to setup and use for a single church site.

Cons: Would like to have key fob child check-in. Would like for it to incorporate more emailing features. Lacks mass updating of records.

Overall: Would recommend to a new church starting up. It does lack so of the features needed for a larger church.

Mike Jones
, Finance Pastor at Fort Church

November 12, 2012

Love Church Membership Online

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: We searched several database products before trying the 60 trial with Church Membership Online. We were thrilled with the product, and paid for a year's subscription. This was a great decision for our church.

We really like all of the features that Church Membership Online offers. The directory is most helpful to all ministry leads. I can easily keep the database updated without having to reprint directories for all ministry leads. We have recently linked the calendar on Church Membership to our website. This has simplified the process of keeping all information current and up-to-date. The attendance feature is streamlined and easy to use. There are many features of Church Membership that we have yet to tap into - someday! Great product, easy to use, dashboard makes all features readily available! Love it!

Cons: One of the best things about Church Membership is that they are sensitive and timely with their response to consumer needs/demands.

Church Membership can improve the following:
- various options for creating labels (For example, filter for men or high school aged youth.) - Some notes / tips when you begin entering data. We have some households that should be individuals! -an app for phones

Overall: We love this database and would highly recommend it to other churches. It can do a a little or a lot for your church.

Julie Kokes
, Admin at United Church of Crook

November 09, 2012

THE ROAD FORWARD

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: This system is very easy to use, very convenient and also easy to get ordinary church members to use. The customer service and technical support team is quick to respond and very supportive. The system is efficient, and saves time in communication within the church organization.

Cons: Not much to say on cons.

Overall: I will recommend however that a feature to allow the administrator to view activity per login will be most desirable. This will enhance the security in the system. The admin can tell who did what. It will be good to add that to the reports feature accessible by admin or pastor.

EDWIN JANNEY
, DEACON EDWIN JANNEY at GICC

October 30, 2012

Church Management Made Easy

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: This product works so well, and is so easy to use at the first time of trying. I love it.

Cons: Can't think of any.

Overall: Would recommend this to any church to try it. It beats anything we have used before.

Paul Ogle
, Pastor at Whitfish Foursquare Church

October 29, 2012

Customer Support

4
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: I really appreciate that you value all our feedback as we use the software. I know I have emailed a few times suggestions as to what would make auditing easier for us & the members and you guys have implemented a couple. Our members like being able to watch their own contributions and updating their files. Attendance taking is easier.

Cons: I have heard from a few of our members that they would like to view all their household (this is from the heads of household of course).

I used to have a feature in Servent Keeper that would allow me to view the trends between years, such as giving for 2012/2011. This feature allowed us to take a quick look at where we were at at any given time. I didn't have to run a report just click on the graphs button. It gave the option to view several year trends.

I think the attendance reports would be more beneficial if they were combined. I would like to pull up the service attendance TOTAL and still know who was there at the same time; instead of having to open up another report feature.

Overall: Continue the excellent customer service and listening to your clients. The improvements you have made thus far have been very effective. There's still room for improvement but for the most part, I think we have made a great investment in Church Office Online.

Catherine Flores
, Office Manager at CrossingPoint Church

October 26, 2012

Church Office Online Review

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: I love all the features I am using on this program. This was definitely a God sent because I was looking for a church program to use for our church for financial records. It was also a blessing to discover other records are automatically generated in the process. I like the fact that the church can maintain membership records through this program by basically just entering contributions. This program is able to record different demographics. The different reports that one is able to produce at the push of a button and from just recording contributions is unbelievable. The other feature is that of customer support. I have found such support impeccable. So far I have spoken to Mike Smith several times since I signed up for the program and he makes you understand everything so easily - the respect to the individual customer is commendable. He truly makes you not be ashamed to come back with the same question. I cannot wait to try other new features down the pipe.

Cons: No concerns whatsoever.

Overall: I highly recommend this program and this company to anyone, church or other religious organization interested in a program such as this. You have been such a blessing to us and to many in God's Kingdom and it is my prayer that the Lord will continue to bless you and use you and your programs to further His Kingdom.

Violet Asem
, Part of the church leadership at MFM - Silver Spring

October 19, 2012

Great program!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Extremely user friendly, a lot of useful features, great customer support, program is constantly improved and developed.

Cons: Doesn't have well developed and user friendly visitor follow up system.

Web-based is the big plus for me as a mission planter with several volunteers who do their work from their homes.

I've checked out many web-based church management products. I am quite knowledgeable, as I have done some web development myself. There are some other products out there that have more features, but their price point is considerably higher.

Cons: The user interface takes a little getting used to (like any specialized software), but it is implemented very consistently and once you "get" CMO, you can move through the entire software set easily.

I wish it had a better internal social networking feature, like a group member could send a group email easily. But perhaps that's coming.

Overall: I really like Church Management Online. It is a very high value application. It may not be sophisticated or feature-rich enough for some churches, but your are going to jump into a whole different ballgame price-wise to get anything better than CMO.

John Rallison
, Pastor at Journey of Life Lutheran Church

October 17, 2012

Church Office Online

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: This system is easy to implement and the customer service is fantastic! Any problem you experience is resolved promptly! Love working with the Church Office Online personnel. I also love that it's an internet based system so you can access your records anywhere, anytime. They system is pretty self explanatory and covers all the areas you need in a church database.

Cons: The report features could allow you to manipulate data a little better. It's difficult to easily see some attendance trends on the reports. Also, I wish there was an easier way to add individuals and households without duplicating efforts. You have to add the individual, type the information, and then do the same thing all over again for the household information. It would be nice if while you are adding an individual, you could just click a button to add the household with the same information, and assign that individual to the household all in the same screen.

Overall: I would highly recommend this system.

Jessica Pogue
, Financial Director at Centerpoint Church at Annapolis

October 16, 2012

Just Starting But Already Love It

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Ease of use
Ability for members to keep their information current
Quick to start
Support is very fast in responding

Cons: Takes a while to become comfortable with ALL the features.
An iPhone/Android app would be great instead of using a browser

Overall: Churchmembershiponline.com is wonderful. Our congregation just moved from a much bulkier and cumbersome program that required constant maintenance just to keep information current. WIth the ability to update from anywhere and have members handle their own information is the main reason we switched. Even though we just started using it, it has already changed how we manage our congregations paper work.

Andrew Deister
, Pastor at Vista Ridge Church of Christ

October 10, 2012

CRC Tweaks 1

3.5
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: The overall look of COO is pleasing and not intimidating. Thus far it is user friendly. The casual computer user would find it simple enough to use. This was VERY important in selecting COO. Many congregants/volunteers are occasional or casual computer users. It was important to find an application that they would find to be user-friendly and comprehensive.

Cons: Security:
The browser back button is active. No one should be able to use the back button and access member/child information. Right now this can be done.
Access:
We are forced to log out of one status and have to login again as another.

Having to change a person's password in order to change their access status. Example: from attendance taker to standard.

Main Menu:
Would be more comprehensive, if the modules were accessible AFTER login. Having those big boxes on the login page was just plain confusing. (child check-in, individual access). Allow users to login, but only access what they are assigned to.
The main menu s/b accessible from every page.

Delete or archive an accounting category and NOT delete the contribution records. We often have temporary fund accounts that no longer need to display in the list.

Be allowed to select our own "method of payment" default.
An Events Registration module would be helpful.

Overall: I would definitely recommend COO to a small to medium size church who wants to keep things simple for decent pricing such as my church.

Vendor Response

by Church Office Online on October 18, 2012

Hi Bert,
Thank you for your review and your thoughts about Church Office Online. We appreciate hearing from you and will take your suggestions into consideration as we add new features to Church Office Online.
We would like to specifically address your security concerns.
Security:
We take security very seriously; protecting church data is of utmost importance to us. We utilize industry leading security practices, infrastructure and encryption. You can learn about all of our security measures on the following page: http://www.churchofficeonline.com/Tour/Security
Disabling the back button would not improve security of our application and would have a negative impact on ease of use. If a single computer is shared by multiple users, each user should use the "Log Out" button when they end their session and close the browser. This ensures that the next person using the computer to log into Church Office Online cannot access any data their user role does not permit.
Thanks again,
Aaron

Bert Eskridge
, Admin at Colorado Ridge Church

October 08, 2012

Church Office OnLine has been a life-saver!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: We are a small non-denominational church plant in a city of big denominational churches. This is our first church as pastors. We were much concerned about keeping great records, and didn't know exactly how to go about that. Church Office has helped us tremendously...first, with a great price for small churches 1-60; second, with easy access to all the tools needed to keep accurate records including the finances and year end reports. It is also very easy to pay my bill each month using Paypal. I cannot say what a blessing it has been to me to be able to have all of this at my fingertips, organized and ever so helpful. Thank you for a great product & great service!

Cons: At this point in our experience with Church Office OnLine, I have no Cons.

Overall: My overall recommendation is GET THIS PRODUCT! I especially recommend it for small churches who need a reliable bookkeeping system that is cost effective, easy to use and has all the bells and whistles!

Jeanie Stubblefield
, Co-Pastor at Resurrected Life Ministries

October 05, 2012

OUTSTANDING PRODUCT & SUPPORT

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Our church office transitioned from an installed cumbersome church data system to Church Office Online in a matter of a few hours. The fact that our team can login from anywhere in the world via the cloud is fantastic. We added the Vanco online giving piece offered, and again within a few hours we were "live", website to bank with rates that were extremely competitive. Church Office Online has made its product simple to use, easy to train. Support has been a breath of fresh air, responsive and efficient.

Cons: In 10 months of use, I can't come up with any "cons"!

Overall: Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Doug Love
, Executive Pastor at Hope Boulder Foursquare Church

October 04, 2012

Membership at it's best!!

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Love the household option, great check-in service, easy event maker, just a great system.

Cons: Easier new visitor child-check in and then add to household.

Overall: Love this software! I would highly recommend it!! Great stuff so far!!

Anthony Murrell
, Youth Pastor / I.T. at Winder Wesleyan Church

October 03, 2012

Tried others first

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Very versatile program. Very easy interface. Good reporting.

Cons: No dancing bears.

Overall: Would like to be able to do year versus year contributions comparison.

SCOTT SCHMECKPEPER
, Pastor at AVALON COMMUNITY CHURCH

October 03, 2012

A great value - would recommend for sure!

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Easy to use/Intuitive
Great truly-web-based tool
All relevant parties (pastor, church staff, etc) able to view/share info in real time
Very affordable!
Responsive customer service
Affordable and manageable system for a church like ours that is not a mega-church
Very open to feedback regarding features and how the system works
Anyone in the church can access their own record with just their email address - doesn't require admin to create a ton of users

Cons: A few minor "clunky" navigational issues
Can't capture both physical and mailing address at household level
Can't capture more than two phone numbers at individual level (although a simple set of fields on the main record is a pro!)

Overall: As a former Database Manager (former career), I would definitely recommend Church Membership Online. It is robust in its scope yet still easy to use, and most amazingly, quite affordable!

Lisbeth Chapman
, Administrator at First Presbyterian Church

October 03, 2012

User Friendly and Amazing Reports

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Using Church Membership Online is so simple, entering and maintaining our data base has never been easier! The reports and graphs that can be generated are simple to read, understand and share with others.
It is also so convenient that when we send out an email/newsletter to all our members/attenders, Mail Chimp draws from our current data base to send to just who we want.
With the addition of Child Check-In, we hope that will make the safety and check in of our Compass Kids, so much better.
Whenever I have had any questions, especially when we first started, I received a response usually the same day, but later than the next day, awesome customer support!

Cons: We haven't found any Cons with Church Membership Online and we have been using it for almost 2 years.

Overall: Any Church big or small should take a look at the tutorials and give Church Membership a try, you won't be disappointed!
There customer service is the best ever, you won't be left hanging for answers!

Rose Hagen
, Office Manager at Compass Church

October 03, 2012

Highly Recommend

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Choosing a new membership management software can be very stressful and overwhelming. I really appreciated the free trial period offered. It gave me a chance to work with the program to see if it would meet the needs of our church with no cost or obligation. It took a lot of the pressure off.
The data import from previous software based program was very smooth. I found the program to be very user friendly. I can easily find answers to any questions I encounter through the Knowledge Base online. On the one occasion I did need to contact Customer Support I found them to be very friendly, helpful and quick to respond. The video tutorials are also very helpful. The ability to allow members of the congregation to access certain areas of the program allows them to access the most up to date contact information for fellow members and in return, saves me the time of answering phone calls to relay that information and also money as we no longer need to print a directory.

Cons: I have none at this time.

Overall: Church Membership Online has been a great tool for our Church and I would highly recommend it. It offers many user friendly, useful, tools that help make my job easier. I appreciate the fact that I could begin immediately using the program without attending off site training seminars which are costly. They are very dedicated to continuing to enhance the features of the program to meet the need of growing churches.

Connie Stegeman
, Administrative Assistant at Zion Reformed Church

October 03, 2012

Review Request

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: I really like how easy it is to navigate through all the features. The display is very intuitive.

Cons: I would like to see a visitor registration module that can easily be used on a tablet.

Overall: This is a great product at an even better price. I've been looking at church management software for over a year and found church office to be the best value for a small church plant. It has a lot of great features that can grow with our church.

Jerry McKee
, Lead Pastor at Agape Christian Center

October 03, 2012

Time Saving Software

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Year end giving statements are easy to generate.
Entering contributions is fast and easy.
Support is responsive.
Software is being updated on a regular basis.

Cons: Entering new households and individuals is somewhat confusing.
Pricing is a little high, but still worth investing.

Overall: Meets our needs as a small church.

Dana Flinck
, Treasurer at Faith Baptist Church

October 02, 2012

So Easy A Pastor Could Use It...

4.5
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: I gave Church Membership Online five stars for customer support because we have literally never needed any help. The website is so easy to use and to navigate. The cost is very friendly for small churches like ours. It has been worth every penny.

Cons: We had a little bit of trouble understanding how to add individuals versus families but after a short trial and error we caught on and it has worked well for us.

Overall: I would definitely recommend Church Office Online to others.

Don Knoup
, Lead Pastor at Connecting Point Church

October 02, 2012

Good for small churches

4.5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: The feature we liked the most is that this software runs in the cloud. We don't have to install on our server and all our volunteers can access. This product has really helped us in organizing our data.

Cons: Wish some functions were more customizable.

Overall: This is a great overall product. It is perfect for our small church and at an affordable price. Support team has been very responsive in responding to issues. They also seem to be releasing new features all the time.

Lara Coffer
, Secretary at Downtown Unity Circle

October 02, 2012

Great Solution! Great Product! Great Price!

5
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: As a pastor of a small church, I had been searching for ages for a product that would meet our needs, that was affordable, and was not created in the 1990's. I'm very thankful for finding Church Office Online. I very much appreciate being able to access information from the office, my home or from my phone.

Cons: With it being webbased, it not quite as snappy as it could be, and there are a few things that are confusing. But for the most part it's pretty user friendly and responsive.

Overall: I highly recommend Church Office Online to help you to ministry.

You Need This!

Overall: If you are struggling with keeping on top of your congregation, visitors and giving statements this is the software for you

Robert JOhnson
, Pastor at Pilgrim Saint Paul Lutheran

October 02, 2012

Great system

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: LOVE it!! Very user friendly!

Cons: None it is perfect the way it is!

Overall: Yes 100% I would recommend it!

Courtney Rhodes
, Secretary at Lakeland Baptist Church

October 02, 2012

Powerful web based software rich with features

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Online access means you don't have to be in the office to access your church's data. Users can manage their own information and access their own giving records. Constant upgrades on the server side means less issues on the user side, more features, and is the start of excellent pro-active customer service. Supports child check-in, giving records, general membership information, spiritual growth and development, and new features on a regular basis.

Cons: Some of the features are "clunky" and don't allow for smooth transitions like adding new individuals on the fly during contribution recording. Creating/editing households can be cumbersome.

Overall: This is an excellent church and contribution management software that provides 24/7 anywhere access to your church records and information. The already rich number of features are constantly being added to. Although packed with features, some of them do not work well together restricting the ability for on-the-fly modifications/edits in many areas. None-the-less it is budget friendly and will be as powerful as you make it based on how you utilize it.

Michael Pudlo
, Lead Pastor at Journey Christian Church

October 02, 2012

Easy to use program

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Very east to use. I love the new feature when members can access their own information without being able to access/change admin-only areas.

Cons: Some of the reports have a few kinks (for instance I get odd date(s) from a different month on birthday reports). Also, not the most cost-effective program.

Church Office Online

2.5
/
5

Overall

3
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: The cost of the program is certainly great and the support Mike gives also seems to be outstanding. The basic concept is very easy to understand as databases go. The interface is not cluttered with lots of things that look like a programmer designed it. The various levels of rights is a nice touch as is the ability for members to access and update their own data. Although we haven't implemented yet, the ability to integrate with online giving is also a plus.

Cons: Very limited in its ability to be customized in basic areas such as membership labels and categories are static and unchangeable. Student's email and phone numbers are unavailable in directories. Inability to directly sync with Google contacts and calendars is a big drawback. Current calendar is not useful for our organization and because of this we will have to duplicate every event on 2 calendars. The inability to import data apart from sending in to COO seems antiquated. Using the product has revealed shortcomings in usability such as simple navigation links that have been omitted. Although highlighted as a feature, lack of a native iOS or Android app makes the program virtually unusable on a smart phone. Overall this is certainly a step up for anyone who hasn't had an online database, and yet it seems to be a bit immature for a product that has been available for 7 years.

Overall: A small organization that could fit very neatly into the way COO is structured should consider this. I know there are larger organizations that use this product and I would think they have had to address some of the same issues we have discovered. I have no doubt the program could be expanded to be outstanding. Just needs a little attention in some of the areas listed above.

Danny Atkeisson
, Growth Pastor at Christ Community Church

October 02, 2012

Very Affordable

4
/
5

Overall

3
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: When researching membership database options this was the most affordable while still meeting our needs. With the addition of the Child Check-in System, which is included for free, you can't beat it! It is fairly simple to use and set up users. The customer service is excellent! I usually get a reply within 5 minutes of sending an email.

Cons: With any new system there are some bugs to work out. Sometimes you have to enter information into seperate areas for it to apply. For example, when entering a household, you can add new individuals to the household when you set it up, but there is a bug with the anniversary date & membership dates. Sometimes they are grayed out with no obvious reason.

Overall: Overall, I would recommend this product. Especially for small churches and low budget churches.

Heritage Oaks Membership

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

4
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: It makes my job a lot easier. I have to keep attendance every sunday & the pastor & I send letters to the people who are out that week. With the software I can have attendance done in about 10 mins. Its also very cost effective. I don't have to use so much paper to keep records. I would highly recommend it to other churches.

Cons: They only thing that I would recommend adding to the program needs to have better integration with mobile devices. We tried to use an ipod one sunday but it was alot harder. It would be so much more resourceful if it were cleaner & easier to access on the go.

Overall: I would highly recommend this program to any other church administrators. I love it. It makes my job so much easier & my day so much better!

Jeanna Tate
, Administrative Assistant at Heritage Oaks Church of the Nazarene

October 02, 2012

Simple and Lightweight software

3.5
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

3
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: - Very simple to use
- Cloud based software allows for access away from the office
- Affordable

Cons: - Lighter in features than other Church Management Software

Overall: Useful for a small church that still wants to benefit from a ChMS, but probably less so for a larger church.

Joel Kim
, Director of Integration at Ark Ministries of Berkeley

October 02, 2012

Innovating

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Accessible from any computer.
Really love the idea of using the iPad, mobile phones, etc.
Really like that others may sign in and use the data for themselves in other areas of ministry.
Video tutorials.

Cons: Not as easy to set up different needed areas. It would have been nice to have known more at the beginning about dates, anniversary's, church membership dates, so that additional data entry would not have been needed as much. re: the data import method.

Overall: Would recommend this software because it is a great tool for all in the ministry (staff and congregation).

Debbie Jones
, Administrative Assistant at South Woods Baptist Church

October 02, 2012

At Our Fingertips

5
/
5

Overall

5
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: We have found this program easy to understand and use. The navigation is very organized and the assimilation of information is almost instant when selected. The variety of fields and filters available are excellent can even be customized.

So far, everything has lived up to what is promised in the promotional material from Church Office Online.

Cons: We have not experienced any negative features of this technology. The only thing we might suggest they add in the future is mass e-mail and phone texting right from their platform.

Overall: We would recommend others to use this technology to assimilate their information and communicate with their membership.

Kenny Smith
, Senior Pastor at HeritagePoint Church

October 02, 2012

Very Good Program

4
/
5

Overall

4
/
5

Ease of Use

5
/
5

Customer Service

Pros: Easy to use. Easy for congregation to access their giving information.

Cons: Having to navigate away from the current page to enter information is annoying but getting used to it.

Overall: I like it very much so far. I have only used it a couple of months but I am very happy with it.